PC Photo by John Richard Johnson County Recorder Kim Painter at the Johnson County Admninistration Building in Iowa City on Monday, April 27, 2009.

Written by

Adam B Sullivan
| Iowa City Press-Citizen

A local leader received some attention from the White House this week.

Johnson County Recorder Kim Painter was one of 10 openly LGBT public officials from across the country to receive the White House's Champion of Change honor this week. The recognition is in honor of former San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, who became the first openly gay politician to win a U.S. election in 1977. He was assassinated in November 1978 after only 11 months in office.

Painter's sexuality wasn't a mystery when she announced her bid for public office 15 years ago. She had written columns in the University of ...